Honey-Do Brown Ale

Grains
8 lbs. Marris Otter
1 lb. Honey Malt
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Caramel 10L

Hops
1.0 oz. Northern Brewer 60 mins***
0.5 oz. Willamette 2 mins***

Additions
1 lb. Clover Honey 15 mins
irish moss 15 mins

Yeast
#wl005 British Ale


SWMBO requested a honey ale, something like a cross between Honey Brown and New Castle Brown Ale. Not having the requisite knowledge to design my own recipe from scratch, I borrowed this recipe from 3rdwdr and made a couple of modifications. I substituted Marris Otter for the 2-row and knocked it down to 8 lbs. I also added 1 lb. of Honey Malt. I also knocked the NB hops down to 1.0 oz. Other than that, I stayed fairly true to 3rdwdr's recipe, with all times and temps being the same.

My OG was a bit higher (1.060) than the original recipe, but I am not complaining. Perhaps my efficiency was just higher than 3rdwdr's; I don't know.

I'll post more when I taste it the first time..

Looks cool, interested to see how it turns out.

Me too!

It is now two weeks since brew day for this lovely brown honey ale.

It is a nice chestnut brown in color. The taste is sweet with a little bite from the hops, a little caramel and a hint of honey in the background.

The SG has been 1.010 for about the past week so I'm calling this batch done an will try to bottle when my little munchkin takes her nap this afternoon - provided I don't also take a nap this afternoon!

I'm figuring a week to carb up and it should be read for to be drunk, but I intend to put a dozen or so back for longer ageing just to see how it does with some time.

Will post a follow-up when I crack the first carbed bottle.

UPDATE: This batch was bottled 10 December 2013. The color was a beautiful copper or chestnut brown. It tasted very malty, which is what I was going for, with just enough hop flavor to balance the sweetness, but not so much that you could discern any particular hop flavor.

I opened a bottle 14 December 2013 just to see how it was coming along. Of course it was not carbed very much, but the flavor was outstanding! SWMBO said it was just what she had in mind. SCORE! This is one to add to the list of beers to keep on hand.

Looks like a great recipe... Have to put this into my brewing rotation on the next go-around...

Thanks for sharing...

Redbeard5289

What was the mash temp? I'm interested in making this.

So the wlp005 was good eh. Cool, I've got my version in the fermenter right now, was worried this yeast would overpower it a bit.

Harry482 said:

What was the mash temp? I'm interested in making this.

Click to expand...

This is the original recipe I found and modified:

"All grain kit have brewed a couple times and
will keep on brewing. Always turns out good.

"Grains
9 lbs. 2-Row
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. Caramel 10L

"Hops
1.5 oz. Northern Brewer 60 mins***
0.5 oz. Willamette 2 mins***

"Additions
gypsum 60 mins
2 lbs. Clover Honey 15 mins
irish moss 15 mins

"Yeast
#wl005 British Ale

"Mash at 152 F 60 mins.
Batch sparged at 170 F for 30 mins

"***kit comes with 2 oz nb and 1 oz willamette.
ive thrown all of them in at the regularly
scheduled times and it turns out fine for my
likings.

"Ive batch sparged every time ive done this
recipe but recently got the capability to fly
sparge so i shall be doing that from now on out.
If fly sparging do as you normally would."

My modifications are in the grains and hops as noted above. I also omitted the gypsum. Other than that I stayed as true as possible to all temps and gravities.

KOamps said:

So the wlp005 was good eh. Cool, I've got my version in the fermenter right now, was worried this yeast would overpower it a bit.

Click to expand...

It was good indeed. WLP005 is so good because it is clean and does not do a whole lot to the flavor. I like it because it lets the grains and hops do their thing without contributing too much flavor of its own. Best of luck to you!

Glad it turned out so well. I'm itching to brew a brown so I may borrow your recipe.
A whole pound of Honey malt is a lot, but it needs to carry a very wide medium layer.

Thank you!

Well, I screwed my batch up. Primary got a little cold on the third day and I thought I put the WLP005 yeast to sleep early since they dropped right out. Decided to rouse them a couple of times and probably was a little too vigorous, most likley oxidized it, horrible metallic taste at bottling. Another case of leave it the f@ck alone.

KOamps said:

Well, I screwed my batch up. Primary got a little cold on the third day and I thought I put the WLP005 yeast to sleep early since they dropped right out. Decided to rouse them a couple of times and probably was a little too vigorous, most likley oxidized it, horrible metallic taste at bottling. Another case of leave it the f@ck alone.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear that! Better luck next time!

I plan to rebrew this recipe, but I have made a few modifications. I upped the MO to 10 pounds, subbed Roasted Barley for the Chocolate Malt, and upped the Honey Malt to 1.25 lbs.

I wanted to increase the ABV and honey flavor, and I want more of a roasty/toasty flavor rather than the chocolatey/caramel flavor of the Choc Matl. I will use the same yeast and everything else will remain the same.

I'll report back when I have more info an hard numbers.

I rebrewed this batch Saturday as specified above. Beer smith said my OG should have been 1.080, but my measurement came out at about 1.061. I used 2 oz of EKG and added them at the beginning of the boil. The wort was pretty hoppy so I may have overdone it with the bitterness, but you live and learn! Everything else was great. My turkey fryer and beverage coolers worked spectacularly so I'm very pleased with my new setup all-in-all.